Automatic slack-adjuster for brakes.



W. H. SAUVAGE.

AUTOMATIC SLACK ADJUSTER FOR BRAKES.

APPLICATION FILED D110 14, 1912v RENEWED OCT. 27,1914. 1,120,090. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

3 SHEETSBHEET l.

10 I/ /l/ C0/7/76/70/7 WITNESSES INVENTOR ATTORNEYS k W. H. SAUVAGE.

AUTOMATIC SLACK ADJUSTER FOR BRAKES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 14. 1912. RENEWED 001. 27, 1914.

1 1 20,090. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

"r J a E z WIIIIIIIIIIIA IIIIIIII/IIIIA'II In iv b If a INVENTOI? W. H. SAUVAGE.

AUTOMATIC SLACK ADJUSTER FOR BRAKES.

APPLICATION FILED 13130141911 RENEWED 0c1'.27,1914.

1 1 20,090. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

3 SHEETS"SIIEBT 3. 17 ,9-

l/WENTUR MSURNE rs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY SAUVAGE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SAUVAGE WARD BRAKE COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

AUTOMATIC SLACK-ADJUSTER FOR BRAKES.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Application filed December 14, 1912, Serial No. 736,690. Renewed October 27,1914. Serial No. 868,899.

To al'l'whwfi; itmay coneern Be it known that I, VILLIAM H. SAUVAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of .Manhattan of the city of New York, in the county of New York, in

the State of New Y ork, have invented ceradjusters for railway brakes and has for its object to improve generally the construction of the same.

The invention relates particularly to slack adjusters in which the take-up device is mounted on the car body so that its parts are not' subject to operation by reason of the movement of the truck bolster about the king bolt.

One object of the invention is to arrange the moving parts of the take-up device more compactly than hitherto so that they may be incased and protected from the elements.

Another object is to provide means in operative relation to the slack adjuster and disposed Within easy reach of the operator, so as to avoid the necessity of getting under or between the cars, to .permit the take-up members to be released manually thus freeing, to a maximum degree, the entire truck brake rigging.

Still'another object is to provide positive means for returning the brakes to release position, which means may or may not co operate directl with the take-up devices A further object is to introduce between the take-up device and the brake rigging adjustable means for determining readily the extent of free travel of the brake actuating mechanism prior to the actuating of the slack adjusting members. In accordance with the invention this last named means is of a simple nature and may be adjustedquickly by'bne man with the aid of ordinary tools.

. Another object is to mount the usual -dead lever in such a position that it will not come into contact with the truck bolster and that too though the latter assumes its maxi mum angular relation with the transverse axis of the car. This construction eliminates the danger previously caused by the shifting of the fulcrum of the dead lever and the corresponding lessening of the clearance of the brake shoes.

The manner in which these and other objects are attained will. appear hereinafter, reference now being had to the accompanying drawings in which F gure 1 is a view partly in longitudinal section and partly in elevation, showing a conventional form of truck and a portion of the car body with one form of the means for ad usting automatically the fulcrum of the dead lever. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section of the take-up device shown in Fig. 1, but on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a view taken an the plane indicated by the line 33, Big. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of.a modified form of a release sprmg between the pull rod and the take-up rod. Fig. 5 is a view similar to that o fFig. 1 with the parts of the take-up device so modified that the torsional spring thereof shall serve also as the release spring. Fig. 6 1s a View similar to that of Fig. 2 showing the take-up device employed in F 1g. 5. Fig. 7 is a view taken on the plane ndicated by the line 7 -7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a view taken on the plane indicated by the line 88 of Fig. 6.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 5 the car body a is supported upon the body bolster b which in turn is supported upon the truck bolster 0 through the usual king bolt 1)". Springs 0, carried by a suitable rigid portion of the truck frame, support the truck bolster 0. Upon the sand plank d are hung the brake shoes 6 with the brake beams c, the latter being connected as usual by struts e to the dead lever f and the live lever f. The two levers are connected as usual by the bottom rod f while the live lever f is connected to the top rod f of the brake actuating mechanism, which may be of any approved design and either hand or power operated.

The dead lever f, as before indicated. is provided with an adjustable or shiftahle fulcrum positioned automatically to take up wear on the brake shoes and all lost motion or slack resulting from wear on any of the connections or other parts of the brake rigging. In the construction shown, the upper end of the dead lever f is connected operatively to a sheave g by a flexible connection 9. herein shown as a chain. The free end angle irons, a. -.'I-he second sheave i'is of this chain is attached to thesheave in any suitable manner and lies in a circumferential groove with which the sheave is preferably provided. It should be noted here that the point of attachment of the chain 9' to the sheave q'is such with regard to the ex-- mounted rotatably ,on-a suitable axle h? extending transversely through the casing It and supported by the walls thereof. The

sheave 11 preferably is providedwit ha peripheral groove in whichis disposed a flexible connection isuch as a'achain, attached thereto by' a suitable stud i and having its outer end connected to a take-up rod i which ex -tends longitudinally under the car body a and has a depending yoke i at its outer end through which assesthe pull or top rod. of. the brake actuating mechanism. Between theryoke i and an adjust able abutment f on said. top' rod f, herein illustrated as als'liding clamp, 1s a spring 7' adapted to be compressed u'ponthe operation of the brakes. his spring, hereinafter termed the release spring, operates'upon the release of a the brake" actnating .mechanism to force the brakes into-theirfull release position; i

' Referringnow to Fig. 2 it will be seen that the sheave i-is'recessed internally. and

. has disposed therein a "spring k which has one end-anchored'in the casing h and the other end-anchored in the sheave, whereby rotation of the latter on its axis h is resisted. It should benoted here that in the construction'now being described, the sprlng k is of greater tension than the spring 7. for a reason which will appear later The sheave 2' is provided at one side with an annulareittensioh'or boss of lesser diameter .than'the sheave and onwhich is rotatably mounted theother sheave g. The relative V be engaged by a spring dimensions of the different portions of the twovsheaves is immateriah'save that it is imortant that their circumferential lengths be equal for a reason that will appear hereinafter. v

On the inner face of the take-up sheave g is formed an annular boss 9 provided on its periphery with ratchet teeth 9 ada ted to iried onthe inner face 0 the sheave i. The pawl runs freely over the teeth when the pressed paw ican sheave 6 turns in a counter-clockwise direction but engages operatively therewith when said sheave rotates in a clokwise direction. In the latter case corresponding movement is, of course, imparted to the take-up sheave 9. To prevent positively rotation of the latter in a counter-clockwise direction when subjected, during, the application of the brakes, to strain the greater part of which is transmitted through the dead lever f, a dog l is mounted on the casing h and has teeth -l' in engagement with the ratchet teeth 9-". This dog is of very substantial construction since it receives practically the entire force of application of the brakes to the wheels. As shown best in F ig." 3 the dog 1 prevents counter-clockwise rotation of the sheave 9 while permitting free movement in theopposite'direction, the weight of the dog .being sufficient tokeep the teeth in engagement withthe rack. As indicated in Figs. 1 and 5 and illustrated in detail in Fig. 7 the handle of the dog I may be operatively connected to a rock shaft 1 as by link members '1, permitting movement of the dog independently jof the rock Shaft. The rock shaft Z may be mounted in suitable brackets l on-the under'side of the car body and extends entirely across the same. On eachend of the rock shaft l may be secured operating levers lf disposed Within conven ient reach of the operator so that the dog] may be operated from either side of the car and that too, without the necessity of the operator getting underthe carbody or between the cars.

In the operation of the brakes the upper end of the dead lever is held stationary by reason of the engagement of the dog 1 with the ratchet teeth g of the sheave g and the connectionbetween the sheave g and the fulcrum of the lever. The upper end of the live lever .f, however, is moved toward the left, in Fig. 1, forcing the stop f against the release spring 4' and thereby compressing the latter. This spfing is not itself of sufficient strength to move the rod 2' against the tension of stronger spring I: in the sheave z'. The .stop ft is adjusted on the rod i so that during normal operation of the brakes, its travel will be just suiiicient to compress completely the sprin 1' so that the ad acent coils thereof abut. n practice such travel is usually about four inchesbefore the spring is compressedsolidly. When the brake shoes have worn, a longer travel of the top rod will be necessary, so that upon continue movement of the stopf the tightly compressed spring '7' will serve as a solid abutment and transmit movement to the reach rod 2'. This movement wi ll in turn be imparted to they sheave i which will be rotated counter-clockwise, the awl i riding freely over the ratchet teet g of the sheave g. When the brakes are released be engaged by a lug1 brake riggin end of the dead lever f the sheave i will be returned to its normal position under the action of the torsional spring is and the pawl i engaging with the teeth will rotate the sheave g a distance circumferentially equal to that through which sheave i was displaced, which distance is equal to the excess travel of the brake shoes. Since the circumferential len h of the two sheaves is equal and since their respective connections to the dead and live levers are tangential to their peripheries, it will a pear that the upper end of the dead lever Wlll be moved to the right by the take-up sheave g a distance equal to the "excess travel of the brake leverage system thus cooperating automatically for wear of the brake shoes as well as for slackness caused otherwise.

It-may be desirable to limit the degree of rotation of the sheave i and for this purpose stops it may be provided on the inner face of the casing h, which stops are adapted to i disposed in an annular groove forme, on the inner face of the boss of, the sheave 11. These stops and lug may so dis osed relatively as to hold the sheave i in t e same zero or set position under the .action of the spring is while imiting the degree of rotation thereof dur- 1 operation of the brakes.

Vhen it is desired, to release the brake shoes for the purpose of replacing them, the o erator, simply grasps one of the handles of therock shaft l and by rocking the latter raises the dog I and thus throws the teeth of the dog out of engagement with the ratchet teeth 9 In the construction shown, the dog Z has a downward extension l lying in juxtaposition to the tail of the pawl i so that the latter is disengaged from the teeth 9 simultaneously with the disengagement of the teeth .of the dog. The sheave g may now rotate freely and the chain 9 be paid out, fully releasing the .brakes.

It should be emphasized here that the is so positioned with respect to the dead ever f that the upper end of .the latter may never come in contact with the truck bolster c. A glance at Fig. 5 will show readily that if the truck bolster swings about the king bolt 1;, as it does on a curve, it cannot contact with and force the up r to the right so th at the fulcrum thereof will be changed.

It will be obvious that the release spring when provided as a separate element may be placed in other positions relative to the top. rod f and the reach rod 6, although it will appear hereinafter that the torsional spring is and release spring 7' may beconstructedas one member while performing the distinct functions of the two springs referred to. In Fig. 4 is shown a modification in structure hereinbefore described.

There the reach rod is made in two sections i and i connected respectively to the sheave i in ,the manner before pointed out and operatively to the live lever f as by means of a clamp i and bolts 1 shown in Fig. 5 and described hereinafter. Pivotally connected to one of these sections 11 is a yoke 21* encircled by a spring i one end of which is anchored to the yoke as at 2'". Against the free end of said spring is a suitable abutment or plunger i having recesses Z to receive the yoke and being connected operatively to one section of the reach rod i Relative movement of the two sections in opposite directions will compress the spring as before explained, and continued compression will force the.coils into contact to form a solid abutment and so operate the sheave z. By this modification this independent spring 2'? will perform the function of a release spring and return the brakes positively to their full release position.

Reference is now to be had to Figs. 58 in which the release spring, as an independent element, is eliminated, while the function thereof is fully retained. In this construction the torsional spring hitherto described and which cooperates directly with the takeup devices serves not only to perform the function ascribed to it before, but also positively moves the brakes to full release position. In this dual capacity and for purposes of description, this spring may be considered first as a release spring and. then as a torsional take-up s ring.

The description 0 those principal parts in Figs. 1-4 which are employed in the same capacity in the structure now to be described will sufiice and need not be repeated, all of such parts being designated throughout by the same reference characters. In some instances, however,the shape of certain parts or the relationship thereof to other elements has been changed and such modified parts will be designated by different reference characters.

Referring now to Fig. 5 it will be seen that the reach rod i is provided at its outer end with a depending clamp 2' which is preferably attached thereto pivotally by means of a bolt 1'. The clamp i embraces the top or pull rod f and may be secured ad- ]ustablythereto for a purpose before described in connection with the clamp f. The mner end of the reach rod 2' is secured in the manner before described, to a sheave 2' rotatably mounted on the axle k and having a boss 2' on which is rotatably mounted the take-up sheave g. A spring m is disposed within an interior recess 2' in the sheave i" and has one end secured to the casing h and the other end secured to the sheave whereby rotation of the sheave in a counter-clockwise direction is vopposed. On the inner face of the sheave i" is formed an arcuate groove 17 of a length equal' to the normal travel of the brake shoes, for a purpose to be pointed out later.

Rotatably mounted on the boss g of the sheave g and disposed between the sheave i" and the take-up sheave g is an annular disk n having a stud n on one of its faces, disposed within the arcuate groove 5 of the first named sheave. On the face contiguous to the sheave g, the disk n has secured a spring pressed pawl 10. normally in engagement with the ratchet teeth 9 of the disk 9', as described with reference to the pawl 1? shown in Fig. 3.

Referring now to Fig. 8, it will be seen that when the brakes are released and the sheave i" is held in zero position under the action of the torsional springm, the arcuate groove 2' is so disposedwith respect to the stud n as to permit free rotation of the sheave 2'" in a counter-clockwise direction when the brakes are applied, without causing corresponding rotation of the disk n through the engagement of the end of the groove with the stud. After the groove and the stud have moved relatively a distance equal to the length of the groove, however, the end of the groove and the stud will come in engagement. In case of excess travel of the brake due to wear or lost motion in the rigging, continued rotation of the sheave i" will occur, as well as corresponding rotation therewith of the disk n. Rotation of the disk at will carry the pawl n over the ratchet teeth 9 a distance equal to the ex cess travel of the pull rod 7, as will be un-' derstood from the.description hereinbefore given. Immediately upon the release of the brakes, the spring m, acting as a release spring, will move'the sheave 2'" with respect to the stud n, a distance equal to the length of the arcuate groove 5 and simultaneously will move the brakes to their full release position. Continued movement of the sheave 2' will then follow under the action of'the spring m, as a take-up spring, for a distance equal to the excess travel of the pull rod on the preceding application of the brakes. This movement will be transmitted to disk n through the engagement of the end of the-arcuate groove '5 with the stud 11.. Movement of the disk n will serve to move to a corresponding extent the sheave 9 through the engagement of the pawl n with the ratchet g and thus move the fulcrum of the dead lever f a distance equal to the excess travel of the pull rod, all as pointed out with respect to the structure shown in 1a gs, 1 4.

Except for the dinerences specifically pointed out, the take-up devices and cooperating elements are similar structurally in all of the figures of the drawings, it being, understood, however, that modifications in detail of structure, such as would suggest connected to the take-u connected one to the live lever only and the other to the dead lever only and means device to release and move the brakes to ull release position. 2. The combination of a car body, a truck a brake system comprising a live lever an a dead lever, and an automatic take-up device mounted on the car body and compris- Qing two sheaves connected operatively to the live lever and to the dead lever respectively, one of said sheaves being rotated with respect to the other by excess travel of the pull rod, and clutch means interposed between said sheaves to lock the same during reverse rotation of said first named sheave.

3 The combination of a car bod a truck, a brake system including a live lever and a dead lever, and an automatic take-up device mounted on the car body and comprising two sheaves connected operatively to the live lever and to the dead lever respectively, one of said sheaves being rotatedwith respect to the other by excess travel of the pull rod, means interposed between said sheaves to lock the same during reverse rotation of said first named sheave and means to cause automatically the reverse rotation of said first named sheave upon release of the brakes.

4. The combination of a car body, a truck, a brake system comprising a live lever and a dead lever and an automatic take-up device mounted on the car body and comprising two sheaves connected operatively to the live lever and to the dead lever respectively, one of said sheaves being rotated with respect to the other by excess travel of the pull rod, means interposed between said sheaves to lock the same during reverse rotation of said first named sheave, and means incased in said first named sheave to cause automatically the reverse rotation thereof upon release of the brakes.

5. The combination of a car body, a truck a brake system comprising a live lever and a dead lever, and an automatic take-up device mounted on the car body and comprising two sheaves connected operatively to the live lever and to the dead lever respectively and means engaging the second named of said sheaves to prevent positively rotation thereof in one. direction while permitting free movement thereof in the opposite direction and operable manually to release said sheave entirely.

6. The combination of a car body. a truck, a brake system comprising a live lever and a dead lever, and an automatic takerup device mounted on the car body and comprising two sheaves connected operatively to the live lever and to the dead lever respectively, means engaging the second named of said sheaves to prevent positively rotation thereof in one direction while permitting free movement thereof in the opposite direction and manually operable means disposed at one side of the car body and connected to said last named means to release the second named sheave entirely. a

7. The combination of a car body, a truck, a brake system comprising a live lever and a dead lever, and an automatic take-up device mounted on the car body and comprising two sheaves of equal circumferential length mounted concentrically and operatively connected to the live lever and to the dead lever respectively, one of the sheaves being rotated in one direction by excess travel of the pull rod, means to prevent rotation of the other sheave in the same direction, said means permitting free movement thereof in the opposite direction, means to rotate the first named sheave in the reverse direction and a clutch operable upon said reverse rotation to connect said sheaves whereby the fulcrum of the dead lever is moved a distance equal to the excess travel of the pull rod.

8. The combination of a car body. a truck. a brake system comprising a live lever and a dead lever, a casing mounted on the car body, and an automatic take-up device comprisin two sheaves mounted in said casing, one 0 said sheaves being connected operatively to the live lever and ada ted to be moved by excess travel thereo and the other of said sheaves being connected to the dead lever, a spring disposed within the first named sheave to resist rotation thereof of the first named sheave caused b b excess travel of the pull rod, a rack carried by the other sheave, a dog mounted on the casing and engaging the rack to prevent rotation of said sheave during movement excess travel of the pull-rod but permittlng free movement thereof in the opposite direction, a spring pressed pawl carried by the first named sheave and engaging the rack whereby the two sheaves are rotated together under the action of said spring when the brakes are released and means carried by the casing to limit such last named movement whereby the fulcrum of the dead lever is moved a distance equal to the excess travel of the pull rod.

9. The combination of a car body, a truck, a brake system comprising a live lever and a dead lever, and an automatic take-up device mounted on a car body and including two sheaves of equal circumferential length mounted concentrically and operatively connected to the live lever and to the dead lever respectively, one of the sheaves being operated in one direction by excess travel of the pull rod, means to prevent rotation of the other sheave in the same direction, said means permitting free movement thereof in the opposite direction, means to rotate the first named sheave in the reverse direction, an annular disk interposed between said sheaves and permitting free relative movement of said sheaves for a limited distance in one direction and operable upon reverse rotation of the first named sheave to connect said sheaves wherebv the fulcrum of the dead lever is moved a distance equal to the excess travel of the pull rod.

This specification signed and witnessed this 9th day of December A. D., 1912.

WILLIAM HENRY SAUVAGE. Signed in the presence of' KATHERINE NORTON,

VVon'rHmo'roN CAMPBELL. 

